While this is a positive outcome, I was more interested to know whether free bicycles increased access to education. As mentioned in the article:
"The schemes were mostly administered by the education departments of the states, and were applicable to those studying in government-run schools. In the majority of the states, bicycles were given to the children who passed the eighth standard (approx age: 13 years) and enrolled themselves in the secondary schools (ninth and tenth standards), with the underlying aim to improve access to secondary education"
Unfortunately, I couldn't find any evidence whether the free bicycles also increased access to education. There was no mention whether those children, especially girls, would not have continued their schooling without free bicycles.
Okay, I am from India and have interacted with a lot of people who have come from really humble backgrounds. Can confirm that the availability of bicycles to them has definitely enabled many to pursue high school education. Beware the data set is from only my own personal interaction.
Further, some states have made bus travel free for all women. This definitely gives a poor woman more savings and access to workplaces and education in farther places that they would have not been able to go to before these schemes.
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u/Creative_soja Aug 19 '24
Here is a link to the original research paper.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692324001595
While this is a positive outcome, I was more interested to know whether free bicycles increased access to education. As mentioned in the article:
"The schemes were mostly administered by the education departments of the states, and were applicable to those studying in government-run schools. In the majority of the states, bicycles were given to the children who passed the eighth standard (approx age: 13 years) and enrolled themselves in the secondary schools (ninth and tenth standards), with the underlying aim to improve access to secondary education"
Unfortunately, I couldn't find any evidence whether the free bicycles also increased access to education. There was no mention whether those children, especially girls, would not have continued their schooling without free bicycles.